Numbers 5:21

Numbers 5:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
• English Standard Version (ESV)then' (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) 'the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your body swell.
• New King James Version (NKJV)then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—“the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh rot and your belly swell;
• New Living Translation (NLT)“At this point the priest must put the woman under oath by saying, ‘May the people know that the Lord’s curse is upon you when he makes you infertile, causing your womb to shrivel and your abdomen to swell.

Context of Numbers 5:21

19Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. 20But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.” “ ‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.” 23“ ‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water.

Numbers 5:21 word by word

וְהִשְׁבִּ֨יעַ הַכֹּהֵ֥ן אֶֽת־הָֽאִשָּׁה֮ בִּשְׁבֻעַ֣ת הָאָלָה֒ וְאָמַ֤ר הַכֹּהֵן֙ לָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה יִתֵּ֨ן יְהוָ֥ה אוֹתָ֛ךְ לְאָלָ֥ה וְלִשְׁבֻעָ֖ה בְּת֣וֹךְ עַמֵּ֑ךְ בְּתֵ֨ת יְהוָ֤ה אֶת־יְרֵכֵךְ֙ נֹפֶ֔לֶת וְאֶת־בִּטְנֵ֖ךְ צָבָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then the priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• shall chargeשָׁבַעshâba‛ · to swearH7650
• the womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• with an oathשְׁבוּעָהshebû‛âh · oathH7621
• of cursingאָלָה'âlâh · oathH423
• shall sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• The Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• makeנָתַןnâthan · to give: makeH5414
• amongתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432
• thy peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• thy thighיָרֵךְyârêk · thighH3409
• to rotנָפַלnâphal · to fall: fallH5307
• and thy bellyבֶּ֫טֶןbeţen · belly: bodyH990
• to swellצָבֶהtsâbeh · swollenH6639

Cross-references for Numbers 5:21

• Joshua 6:26At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”
• 1 Samuel 14:24Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.
• Nehemiah 10:29all these now join their fellow Israelites the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord.
• Matthew 26:74Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed.
• Isaiah 65:15You will leave your name for my chosen ones to use in their curses; the Sovereign Lord will put you to death, but to his servants he will give another name.
• Jeremiah 29:22Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’
• 2 Chronicles 21:15You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’ ”
• Proverbs 10:7The name of the righteous is used in blessings, but the name of the wicked will rot.

Commentaries on Numbers 5:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21The Lord make thee a curse and an oath - Let thy name and punishment be remembered and mentioned as an example and terror to all others. Like that mentioned Jeremiah 29:22, Jeremiah 29:23; : "The Lord make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives." - Ainsworth.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11-31Verses 11-31 The trial of jealousy. Since the crime of adultery is especially defiling and destructive of the very foundations of social order, the whole subject is dealt with at a length proportionate to its importance. The process prescribed has lately been strikingly illustrated from an Egyptian “romance,” which refers to the time of Rameses the Great, and may therefore well serve to illustrate the manners and customs of the Mosaic times. This mode of…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-31Verses 11-31 This law would make the women of Israel watch against giving cause for suspicion. On the other hand, it would hinder the cruel treatment such suspicions might occasion. It would also hinder the guilty from escaping, and the innocent from coming under just suspicion. When no proof could be brought, the wife was called on to make this solemn appeal to a heart-searching God. No woman, if she were guilty, could say "Amen" to the adjuration, and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell: Thigh is a polite way to speak about the reproductive organs (compare Genesis 24:2; 47:29). Something would stop her ability to have children. The punishment matched the crime, as sexual immorality led to infertility.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. The Lord make thee a curse, &c.--a usual form of imprecation (Is 65:15; Jr 29:22).Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 5:21

• Adultery
• Bitter Water
• Husband
• Jealousy
• Oath
• Priest
• Self-Incrimination
• Wife
• Witness
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Adultery
• Close
• Conceive
• Cross
• Curse
• Recompense
• Sinai
• Water of jealousy
• Alexander
• Apocrypha

Commentaries on Numbers 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary